Regenerative Sciences: Hannover Medical School

Course Objectives

• Educating medical students as well as engineers and life scientists to perform independent research.

Educational Organisation

The Ph.D. programme "Regenerative Sciences" involves the partners of REBIRTH. The 3-year curriculum is interdisciplinary and covers the following subjects:

• Developmental biology: Principles of vertebrate and non-vertebrate development, embryogenesis and foetal period (focus on inner organs); genetic and epigenetic principles of development; model organisms; transgenic models (gain of function and loss of function); tissue specific transgenesis.
• Stem cell biology: stem cell definition and classification (embryonic, foetal, germ cells, adult); normal and malignant stem cells; signal biology of self-renewal and differentiation (focus on heart, lung, liver, blood); stem cell purification and culture; genetic modification of stem cells (transient, semipermanent, stable); homing, migration and engraftment.
• Ageing and degeneration: telomere biology, oxidative stress, somatic mutations; physical stress; inflammation; cancer; genetic determinants of life expectancy in model organisms; stem cell biology in aged organisms.
  Inflammation: acute and chronic inflammation; inflammation and organ repair; inflammatory signals and (stem) cell biology; fibrosis.
• Tumour biology: mechanisms of tumourigenesis; oncogenes and tumour suppressor genes; complementary mutations; loss of heterozygosity; induction and promotion; genetic and epigenetic stability, tumour immunity.
  Transplantation (focus on heart, lung, liver, blood): rationale and need; organ availability; strategies (autologous, allogeneic, xenogeneic); transplant immunology (host versus graft and graft versus host); prosthetics; supportive care.
  Materials sciences: biomaterials in medicine; classes of materials; materials engineering and functionalisation; biocompatibility; integration.
• Growth factors and their receptors: regulation of cell survival, migration and apoptosis by ligands; soluble versus membrane-bound principles; gradients; clinical use of growth factors.
• Cell therapy: forms and applications; cell sources; cell purification and processing; cell modification (genetic, epigenetic, via DNA, RNA, proteins and chemicals).
• Tissue engineering: principles and practice; the interdisciplinary basis of tissue engineering; integrating materials sciences and cell biology; quality and quantity issues; process development.
• Process development and Good Practice: The three forms of Good Practice: clinical (GCP), manufacturing (GMP) and laboratory (GLP); rules and regulations; standard operating procedures (design, conduct, documentation); quality control; audits and reporting; upscaling and tuning of processes.
• Risk assessment: biodistribution; horizontal and vertical transmission; complications of regenerative agents; complications of cell therapy and tissue engineering; proactive pharmacovigilance; design of preclinical models.
• Clinical trials: design and conduct, informed consent contents and language, insurance.
• Regulatory and industry interactions: from basic research over process development to clinical trials; integrative and proactive communication with regulatory boards and industry.
• Societal relations and ethical issues: principles of research ethics; history of regenerative medicine; therapeutic and reproductive cloning; cultural differences; health and economy and further societal issues; dialogue with patient organisations and the public.
• Practical courses: These will be organised by REBIRTH's service units or other key laboratories.